A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Sunday, February 03, 2013

The Evil Decree

Kiddush HaShem? ...or Yehoreg V'Al Ya'avor?

I can’t help but marvel at the sublime arrogance of those
who ignore the value of the Israeli army. Not only to the survival of the state
but to protection it provides to all the people that live within its
borders.

Yet another article along these lines has appeared in the
Charedi media. This one in Mishpacha Magazine by publisher Rabbi Moshe Grylak. Therein
he extols the virtues of the tens of thousands of Yeshiva students learning Torah
in Yeshivos and Kollelim throughout the land of Israel that he says are the
ones truly protecting the country. It is the Torah they learn that provides the
real protection. And he brings various proofs that is this is the case from the
Gemarah and anecdotes from previous generations of Gedlolim.

I am not here to dispute the value of learning Torah L’Shma.
I am completely supportive of that most important Mitzvah. I even believe that the
elite among them should be fully supported even beyond that which we support
them today. Nor do I dispute the
protective value of those who learn B’Hasmada Rabbah – great diligence.

What irks me is that Rabbi Grylak does something that is
typical of his community. He implies that it is only Torah study that does
that. The Israeli Defense Forces have nothing to do with it. Torah study is all
that is needed to protect the masses from the fires of hell that would be
unleashed by the very real enemies that surround them.

This is an arrogance that they can easily afford since the
Israeli army is not going to disband any time soon. I’d like to see how many
Lomdei Torah (full time Yeshiva and Kollel students) would be willing to live
in an Israel that has no army. I think zero might be a fairly accurate guess.
And yet in this article he completely rejects (by omission) the necessity of an
IDF by virtue of his ‘proofs’ that all which is needed is the Kollel and the Yeshiva.

This, he says, is the view of all the Gedolei Yisroel. And
that is why they oppose the draft. It is why, he explains there is so much vehement
protest about it – using language not heard since the days of the State’s
founding. Drafting of Charedim is a ‘G’zeiras HaShmad’ - a decree tantamount to an
evil government requiring Jews to convert or die!

The implication of such statements is that anyone who serves
in the army is guilty of violating a Yehoreg V’Al Ya’avor. The ultimate
Kiddush HaShem. We should rather die than violate one of the 3 cardinal sins
(idol worship, murder, and adultery). A G’zeiras HaShmad requires us to make
that sacrifice even if forced to violate the smallest of sins.

I can’t imagine what a Hesder student feels like when he hears
such rhetoric. And yet, Rabbi Grylak is right about how the Charedi world feels
about it. This is increasingly what one hears from their circles. It is the Charedi
version of “Hell no! We won’t go!” That was the mantra of the draft
card burning anti Viet Nam war protesters in the late 60s and early 70s.

Another thing that Rabbi Grylak does not seem to understand
is that this is not only about asserting the Torah’s protective quality. It isn’t
just about countering the anti religious view that rejects the idea that the
Torah has any value. A view that has a shrinking number of adherents even as the
Charedi world does its level best to perpetuate that myth. Their “Hell no”
attitude is a complete turn off from Judaism to any secular Jew or even
religious Jew who has served or is serving in the army. The truth is that the majority of Israelis are
not anti Torah. But they are becoming anti Charedi because of the very attitude
represented in an article like this.

And there is another very important thing Rabbi Grylak
ignores which has nothing to do with what actually protects the Jewish people.
Something I have addressed here many times.
The actual blood that is shed on their behalf by soldiers who have been
killed in battle. Blood that no Yeshiva
or Kollel student will ever have to shed.

Rabbi Grylak completely ignores the grieving mother who has
lost a son in battle… or has suffered the trauma of a son seriously and permanently
wounded. His argument is irrelevant to that mother. Her son’s life was
extinguished or permanently altered by a severe disability. Every mother whose
son serves in the IDF has that worry. When their son leaves home to do battle
with the enemy, their fears about whether they will ever see their son alive
again is very real. Not so the mother who sees her son leave home to go learn
in the Yeshiva.

This is not only Rabbi Grylak’s view but represents the view
of his entire community. To one degree or another their arrogance about the
draft and the callous message that sends to every mother who has a son in the
IDF is inexcusable. I do not understand how any of the rabbinic leaders do not see that.
Nor do I understand why they do not see what a Gadol of the last generation
saw. As I have pointed out many times Rav Chaim Shmulevitz understood the value
of the IDF and said so publicly.

But I guess that there are those who disagree with Rav
Shmulevitz - Rabbi Grylak among them. As do just about all the rabbinic
leaders in Israel. At least that’s what he says in this article.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.